Coronavirus: Locals helping locals

Does the threat of coronavirus have you down? Here are a few good things going on around the Lowcountry to help lift your spirits.

Helping hands

Hilton Head Distillery has responded to the extraordinary demand for hand sanitizer by creating a 60-70% spray. The distillery has reached out to local hospitals, disinfectant companies and other related companies in South Carolina. They will be selling it in bulk to ACE Hardware as well as taking orders by a case by case basis via phone call. Be sure to support them and grab the ingredients needed to mix up LOCAL Life’s Quarantini cocktail via their bottle shop.

LOCAL Life Test Kitchen – Quarantini

Ingredients

2 ounces gin

3/4 ounces lemon juice

3/4 ounces simple syrup

Lemon wedge (garnish)

1 sprig of mint (garnish)

Directions To make the simple syrup, boil equal parts sugar and water until combined. Add ingredients to shaker with ice and shake. Strain into your favorite cocktail glass over ice. Garnish with lemon wedge and a sprig of mint. Enjoy in your easy chair while reading this issue. Cheers!

X marks the spot

Town of Bluffton has produced a map of non-profit, helping agencies which may provide resources to local families who are experiencing financial/food challenges. It has also created a map of local businesses that are open. Check out both maps at townofbluffton.sc.gov.

Go on a scavenger hunt

If you’re looking for a fun outdoor activity in Bluffton, consider the “Follow the Fiddlers” educational scavenger hunt in Old Town. Start at the corner of May River Road and Bluffton Road in Old Town Bluffton. Read the plaque for your first clue. How many crabs did you find?

9-10 Crab-u-lous effort6-8 Fit as a fiddler3-5 Just a little crabby0-2 Crawl back into your shell in shame!

Listen to the music

In one of the cooler moments of this whole ordeal, Coligny Plaza and Swampfire Records live-streamed local artists at 7 p.m. each night, March 20-28. The concert series was broadcast on the Coligny Theatre Facebook page. Thumbs up to the many locals who made it happen, and double thumbs up to the artists (Zach Stevens, Taylor Kent, Campfire Tyler, Jevon Daly, Cameron Tate, Quintin Smalls, Brady Smith, Cranford Hollow, Nick Poulin, Nate Douglas, Groove Town Assault) for turning in quality performances. Keep an eye on Coligny Plaza social media pages for upcoming events.

10 great how-to video ideas

Online how-to videos are one of the many benefits of modern technology. If you’re stuck at home, looking for something to do, why not learn an amazing new skill. Here are 10 ideas.

1. How to play guitar

2. How to whistle with your fingers

3. How to build a campfire

5. How to cartwheel

6. How to tie a tie

7. How to cut an onion (no crying)

8. How to juggle

9. How to do calligraphy

10. How to make balloon animals

Working (out) from home

When the President announced non-essential meetings to be reduced to 10 or fewer people, Martin Catalioto of Crossfit843 took matters into his own hands by loaning out hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment to his members to help them stay fit and healthy during the nation-wide lockdown. To ensure everyone is still staying strong, he instructed his coaches to post videos of them working out and got the whole fitness community to rally during these dire times. “If we all do better for our community we all win,” Martin said. For workout ideas, check out Crossfit843 on social media.

Stay strong: Take your ball and go home

An exercise ball is a great exercise tool to use at home, developing and maintaining good overall muscle tone for your entire body. Benefits include back and spine health, core stability, posture, muscle balance and more. Here is an easy bridge workout.

1. Rest your head and shoulders on the ball with your
knees bent at a 90-degree angle

2. Keep your arms folded behind your head and press
the hips up toward the ceiling.

3. Slowly lower your hips down to the starting position.

Complete this exercise 10 times.

Special delivery

The Beaufort County School District has been very impressive in all of this, especially with its free student meal distribution program. Thousands of local kids have benefited from the daily breakfast and lunch pick-ups and drop-offs during the school shut-down. Parents have reported the process is easy and the meals are awesome!

Keeping children connected

Hargray partnered with Beaufort County schools to ensure students had the necessary Internet connectivity to continue their studies during school closings caused by the coronavirus. Hargray offered free Internet services for 60 days to families with students grades K-12 or college across its service territory who do not already subscribe to Hargray Internet. Hargray also offered discounted packages to new customers, and existing customers were allowed to upgrade their Internet speed tier free for 3 months to ensure they also had the necessary speeds to accommodate higher Internet usage. To learn more about the program, visit hargray.com/freeinternet.

Special offers from local restaurants and businesses

Many local restaurants and businesses have made staying at home easier by offering takeout, curbside pickup and delivery. Here were a few of our favorite offers at the time of posting this. Follow your favorite businesses through social media to stay up to date on the latest offerings.

Note: Normally we don’t encourage readers to cut our beautiful pages, but in times like these, we’ll make an exception. Cut this out and stick it on your fridge for quick reference.

Response funds launched

Helping those in need

As many of our neighbors struggle with hardships and consequences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Foundation of the Lowcountry has responded by creating the Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund. The fund will rapidly deploy resources to community-based, frontline nonprofit organizations addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton and Colleton counties.

“We realized that some populations in our area, especially those individuals who work in food and beverage, hospitality or for small businesses, will be disproportionately impacted, primarily from the economic consequences of this outbreak,” says Chris Kerrigan, president and CEO of Community Foundation of the Lowcountry. “This will provide funding to local nonprofits which are addressing those populations’ immediate needs.”

To support this effort, the Community Foundation will match up to $100,000 given to the fund. If you’re looking for a way to help your neighbors who will be adversely affected by COVID-19 and you would like to donate to the Lowcountry Community COVID-19 Response Fund, you can make a tax-deductible gift online by visiting the Community Foundation’s website giving page at cf-lowcountry.org or by calling 843-681-9100.

Restaurant worker fund

Downtown Catering Company has partnered with the Lowcountry Strong Foundation to launch the Hungry Heart Restaurant Worker Fund. The program provides free dinners and other commissary food items to the restaurant workers who are currently out of work, or have severely lost wages. All donations go to meals. Every $5 donated provides one meal. Donate through the Lowcountry Strong Foundation at lowcountrystrong.com.

Low-interest disaster loans

The SBA is now offering disaster loans to South Carolina businesses. You can apply at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. It will take about 30 days from when you file the paperwork to receive a check. If you think that you will need the assistance now or in the future, you are encouraged to submit the paperwork. There’s no obligation to cash the check when it’s offered. Businesses can borrow up to $25,000 unsecured at 3.75%. SCORE and the SBA’s local office at USCB can help fill out the paperwork remotely.

Family relief

Bluffton Self Help has launched the COVID-19 Family Relief Fund. This fund will help provide financial aide to local families with mortgage/rental assistance, utilities and food. Learn more at blufftonselfhelp.org.